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My blog is traveling!

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Live from Oasis of the Seas #2

More from Oasis

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Live from Oasis of the Seas #1

I'm on board now and here is what's new and exciting.

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To Singapore and Thailand-nine flights with a different bunch of airlines

Strange flights or how I learned to stop worrying and love umm Thai Air Asia and One-two-go?Read More...

Rhadpsody of the Seas + Hong Kong Feb 08

Trip Review:  Rhapsody of the Seas Vietnam (Hanoi and Hue) and Sanya Feb. 16, 2008 + Hong Kong Review   Introduction   This was my 54th cruise.  The first day this cruise came out for sale in December of 2006 we grabbed it.  We’ve been planning an Asia cruise for years and this seemed like a great itinerary as well as giving us a chance to go back and have fun in Hong Kong again; it’s been a few years since we last had that opportunity.  Our original plan was to arrive into Hong Kong a couple of days early, take the cruise, and have a couple of ...Read More...

Holland America Oosterdam

I haven't sailed with Holland America for four years, so I thought it was time to go back.  I had sailed with them twice previously; both sailings being mediocre.  So I was pleasantly surprised with the December 8, 2007 Mexican Riviera sailing, my 53rd cruise. We had a VF balcony guarantee cabin and were assigned a category VE.  The cabin itself was fine, but there was a lifeboat in front of our balcony, so we could not see straight down.  In the future, I would only recommend doing a gurantee for a category VD or above. The vast majority of ocean view cabins and a...Read More...

Liberty of the Seas

I had a chance to sail on one of the pre-inaugural Liberty of the Seas sailings.  She is an amazing vessel.  One note before I go on; I also sailed on a pre-inaugural of Liberty's sister the Freedom of the Seas last year, and even though they are sister ships I liked the Liberty much better.  The feel of the ship is "warmer" and it is definitely more colorful.  If you are thinking of sailing with her, here are a couple of don't miss items.  The flowrider, which is a surfing machine is one of those things you should try just once; it is only available on t...Read More...

Norwegian Pearl

I know that I've been remiss in updating my blog, so my sincere apologies.  My wife and I sailed on the 2 night inaugural sailing of NCL's brand new Norwegian Pearl a couple of weeks ago.  We absolutely loved the ship.  There was plenty to do including a cruise industry first bowling alley at sea.  Now, a quick note about said bowling.  The lane is 4 feet shorter than regulation and of course you are on a moving ship.  And that is why I missed a couple of easy spares. Anyway, the ship is very colorful.  The mid-ship atrium has a huge LCD screen to wa...Read More...

Off again

We are headed off on our annual Thanksgiving cruise.  This year we are sailing the Mexican Riviera on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas.  I'll have a full review when we get back.Read More...

Good cruise news for the west coast

Carnival today announced that they will home port the Elation in San Diego starting in June '07 and she will be sailing year 'round 4 and 5 night itineraries to Cabo.  This is a great option for people that don't have a lot of vacation time.  I think that it's about time a cruise line realized that this type of itinerary can work very well on the west coast.  The Elation used to be based in Los Angeles/Long Beach until Carnival moved the Carnival Pride in.  So many of you west coast cruisers have probably sailed on her before.Read More...

A 39 hour day

Whenever I fly east across the international date line, I never know quite what to say to people as to what "today" is.  For example, on my wonderful return flight home on Singapore Airlines, I was served lunch, dinner, snack, and breakfast in that order (yes, most international airlines still serve food).  When I got home, I was talking over dinner about the dinner I had earlier in the day.  My Singapore flight arrived into San Francisco early, and my connecting flight on Horizon Air to Portland was early as well which makes for a nice end to a very long day.Read More...

Celebrity Mercury Review

As promised, my review of the Mercury is now up on my cruise review page. Read More...

Another day in Singapore

The rains have finally come to Singapore, eliminating almost all of the haze.  Hopefully this will be it for the year.  A quick word on where I'm staying, the Pan Pacific Singapore. I've been coming here for over 11 years and it is one of the few hotels in the world that I can actually say feels like home.  The service here is always first rate, and the rooms have plenty of space along with very comfy beds.  If anyone is thinking of visiting Singapore, one place that I recommend is the Zoo.  Yes, the Zoo.  The Singapore Zoo rivals the San Diego Zoo in its exhibits and animals shown.  It i...Read More...

Travels with Anthony

Welcome to my blog!  I'll be updating this often with travel information and reviews of my previous cruises. At the moment I am in Singapore.  The infamous annual southeast Asian fall haze has hit so the air here is not as clean as my previous visits.  For a change I flew on Singapore Airlines since my beloved Cathay Pacific was sold out.  We were right on time and Singapore's great service did not dissapoint.  I did fly with a VIP passenger, Singapore's former Prime Minister and current Mister Mentor, Lee Kwan Yew.  Of course he was in First Class while his assistants were back with me in...Read More...